at the start of the meeting, spend a couple of minutes breaking the ice with a get-to-know-you question. nothing is better than the energy that a positive, fired up sales team brings to the workplace. go around the table to get a sense of where each sales member's pipeline sits. this will give you an opportunity to identify where you need to jump in and support one another. during this part of the conversation, focus on any obstacles or roadblocks that are preventing your team from hitting your targets. having a better understanding of the obstacles your team is facing will help you forecast results you'll be achieving between this and your next team meeting. your sales team has a great deal of knowledge when it comes to customer feedback about your business. don't forget to share this feedback with the appropriate teams (i.e.

there’s a special kind of exasperation that comes with leaving a meeting feeling even less sure what the point of it was than when you walked in (in which case, maybe someone needs this guide to running effective meetings, this meeting agenda template, or this article outlining when you really should reschedule that meeting). okay, maybe you’re all in on the idea of a follow-up email. if you know in advance that you’ll be the one tackling this item, you can even plan ahead by blocking off time on your calendar right after the meeting to get it done.

recaps can also benefit any employees or clients who were unable to attend the meeting and need updates on important details that were missed. if important changes were implemented that may affect the department or company, be sure to list them in the meeting notes for employees to reference and note. you can express your excitement for the action items that were discussed and any accomplished goals. it can be beneficial for employees to receive project instructions or guidelines if they were assigned a complex project during the meeting.

the key to running an effective formal meeting is a well thought out agenda. it specifies the purpose of the meeting and the outcome or decision you are hoping to reach at the end. once the goal of the meeting has been established, prepare for the meeting with a list of important topics for discussion. this kickstarts the thought process for your participants and provides a check-in on its relativity to the meeting goal. each topic should have an owner and a specified amount of time to cover the topic. only people who really need to be at the meeting should be on this list.

creating and distributing an itinerary that outlines the topics to discuss. planning an effective meeting is as important as conducting the meeting because the best and worst decisions of the business generally taken during the meetings. a well-structured meeting itinerary is a valuable tool for ensuring that the meetings achieved desirable results with allocated time. apparently, it has to be clear so it is easier to record meeting minutes.